Press briefing given by Serge Lepeltier, Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development (excerpts)”

Paris, March 21, 2005

(...) On the eve of World Water Day, I should now like to say a word about France's international water policy.

As you know, water management is a growing concern in many countries. Water is a key factor in development and in some parts of the world at times even in peace. In fact, lack of access to water and sanitation is the leading cause of death: 10 million people die every year, half of them children. 1.1 billion people do not have access to drinking water and 2.4 billion have no sanitation.

In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly decided, through the Millennium Development Goals, to halve, by 2015, the percentage of the world population without access to drinking water and basic sanitation.

The report of the World Panel chaired in 2002 by Michel Camdessus showed that to achieve these goals all public- and private-sector aid and investment needed, at the very least, to be doubled.

France is one of the leading aid donors in the sector, with €268 million a year of bilateral aid and €100 million a year of multilateral aid. Africa receives the bulk of it: two thirds of France's bilateral aid goes to it.

France has taken the decision to double her official development assistance (ODA) for the water sector, particularly in Africa.

WATER AND TERRITORY CONFERENCE/WATER ACADEMY/UNESCO

Indeed France is organizing tomorrow, with the Académie de l'Eau (Water Academy), an association which promotes debate on international water policy, and UNESCO, a Euro-African conference on "Water and Territory". Following this conference, I shall have the honour of welcoming to the Ecology Ministry Mrs Maria Mutagamba, Uganda's Minister for Water, who is going to take part in the debate. Other African ministers, French players in the water sector and the African Development Bank will also participate in this conference.

DECENTRALIZED INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

In addition to her ODA, the adoption on 27 January this year of an Act on decentralized cooperation allows France's local authorities and water agencies to develop decentralized international cooperation. This is a very important milestone for solidarity in the water sphere.

1% LEVY/WATER BILLS

From now on, 1% of the water bill paid by every French person can be used for international cooperation. This is genuinely a new, very important form of solidarity, with all citizens able to see from their water bills the part they are playing.

In the wake of the devastation wrought by the tsunami in southern Asia we have mobilized a lot of resources and initiated real cooperation between funds involving NGOs, French towns, water agencies and the Sri Lankan and Indonesian authorities.

I think it’s now important to bring all France's stakeholders in the water sector together to champion in international arenas the ideas dear to us: basin management, integrated water management, involvement of local players and particularly local authorities.

In this respect, the preparation of the Mexico World Water Forum in March 2006 offers us an opportunity. So I have asked the head of the Ministry’s Water Directorate to prepare this forum with all the relevant public- and private-sector players so that we can put forward a coordinated French initiative./.